After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ blowout victory over the New York Jets, it would appear that Russell Wilson has locked down the starting quarterback job for the foreseeable future — with Justin Fields now serving as the primary backup.
For the time being, this recent development finally ends a long Steelers QB controversy that spanned back to Organized Team Activities this spring, but that doesn’t mean fans have seen the end of Fields in Pittsburgh.
“PATIENTLY WAITING!!!” Fields posted cryptically on his Instagram story on October 25, ahead of the Week 8 matchup with the New York Giants.
The post included a photo of Fields on one knee, bowing his head and locking arms with teammates for the national anthem.
Every athlete is competitive, that’s a large part of how they’ve made it this far. The odd part about Fields’ message is that most praised the 25-year-old for how he handled the demotion. Why post anything that could be considered sour grapes one week later?
Revisiting Justin Fields’ Week 7 Press Conference Prior to Steelers vs. Jets
If we revisit Fields’ Week 7 press conference for a moment, there is definitely a strong hint of dejection — but the youngster’s disappointment appeared to be in himself, not the Steelers coaching staff or the situation.
“I don’t think I’ve played good enough, if I’m being real with you,” Fields said on October 17. “If I’m being real with myself, I think if I did play well enough, I don’t think there would be any sort of — who should be playing, who should not.”
He added that “at the end of the day, we got a few wins and of course I’m glad about that, but there’s areas that I can be better at and I’m just going to continue to work on those and continue to get better.”
Later, Fields also noted that he was hoping to finish his six-week stretch as the starter 6-0. Having said that, he acknowledged that it was a “great opportunity” for him and that he was “grateful” for his time as the starter.
“[I try to] have gratitude for everything that I have, but also [try] not to be complacent,” he said ahead of Week 7. “Any little setback, I just know it’s going to make me better not only as a person but as a player too.”
If Wilson remains as the starter, that may be the last time we hear from Fields for a while. And although he said all the right things, it’s pretty easy to see that he wants to be a starting quarterback in this league — which makes for an interesting conversation in 2025 if Wilson continues to win games for the Steelers.
Steelers Community Reacts to Justin Fields’ Instagram Story Ahead of Week 8
Steelers Depot shared Fields’ October 25 Instagram story on X, which allowed fans to comment and give their thoughts on the “patiently waiting” message.
“Gonna be a while my man,” one user replied. Another countered that “we haven’t seen the last of JF2 🔥🙏.”
“Stop blaming everyone else,” a third response read, “just can’t pull the trigger on open receivers, he’s good at rpo but the defense doesn’t respect the arm.”
A fourth wrote: “Qbs like coaches in the nfl hang around for a while as long as the player doesn’t get seriously injured look at the vikings qb [Sam Darnold] last night how many teams he been on? Same thing for other qbs around the league fields will be the same he will play.”
Finally, one fan stated confidently: “He is the future. Not Russ.”
It’s possible that this Wilson-Fields quarterback controversy isn’t over after all.
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Justin Fields Posts Cryptic Message After Steelers Win Behind Russell Wilson